People living in the world’s arid lands are among those most vulnerable to hunger and first to be affected by climate change, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today, calling for sustainable development to ensure those areas are productive enough to support their populations.

“The management, conservation and sustainable development of dry forests are central to combating desertification,” Mr. Ban said in a message marking World Day to Combat Desertification, which is celebrated on 17 June.

He emphasized that degraded land can be made productive through sustainable practices.

The UN General Assembly designated 2011 as the International Year of Forests to bring attention to the value of forests and the social, economic and environmental costs of their loss. The theme of this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification is “Forests keep drylands working.”

In his message, Mr. Ban advocated for investment in drylands for the betterment of local communities.

“Too often, investing in drylands has been seen as unproductive or risky, instead of a necessary avenue for improving the well-being of local communities and national economies,” he said.

Through the upcoming events of the General Assembly’s high-level meeting on desertification, land degradation and drought in September and the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in June 2012, the Secretary-General urged governments and their partners to “bring greater focus to the quest for solutions to this urgent challenge of sustainable development.”

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNCCD) is recognizing this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification with an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) in Spain through a ceremony to designate the soccer star Carlos Marchena as Drylands Ambassador of the UNCCD.

In recognition of the day, Lesotho is celebrating a successful tree-planting effort and revival of previously degraded land in Leribe district. In Senegal, activities include a tree planting ceremony, while events are also being staged in Egypt, Argentina, the Republic of Korea, Iran and Benin.

The Day, first observed in 1995, is designed to serve as a reminder that desertification is a problem that can be addressed through community participation and cooperation.

AGRICULTURE COMMODITY PRICES NOT LIKELY TO DECLINE FOR SOME TIME, SAYS UN REPORT

New York, Jun 17 2011

AGRICULTURE COMMODITY PRICES NOT LIKELY TO DECLINE FOR SOME TIME, SAYS UN REPORT

The international community will be facing higher food prices and volatility in commodity markets for some time, according to a new report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that calls for greater investment in agriculture.

Over the coming decade, however, real prices for cereals could average as much as 20 per cent higher and those for meats as much as 30 per cent higher, compared to 2001-10, FAO states in a news release, adding that these projections are well below the peak price levels experienced in 2007-08 and again this year.

“In the current market context, price volatility could remain a feature of agricultural markets, and coherent policies are required to both reduce volatility and limit its negative impacts,” said FAO Director General Jacques Diouf.

“The key solution to the problem will be boosting investment in agriculture and reinforcing rural development in developing countries, where 98 per cent of the hungry people live today and where population is expected to increase by 47 per cent over the next decades.”

He added that efforts should focus in particular on smallholders in low-income food-deficit countries.

The latest publication follows the release of FAO’s biannual Food Outlook earlier this month which said that global food prices are likely to remain high for the rest of this year and into 2012 due to dwindling stocks and only small production increases for the majority of crops.

The OECD-FAO report sees global agricultural production growing more slowly over the next decade than in the past 10 years, with farm output expected to rise by 1.7 per cent annually, compared to the 2.6 per cent growth rate of the past decade.

In addition, it states that per capita food consumption will expand most rapidly in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America, with demand increasing the highest for meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.

Global production in the fisheries sector, which is covered by the report for the first time, is projected to increase by 1.3 per cent annually to 2020.